If You Love A Chewy Pizza Crust…

If You Love a Chewy Pizza Crust… Well, friend, you are in the right place! Jeff & I have been making this crust for our weekly pizza binge for what seems like forever! I’m positive you are going to adore it! This chewy pizza crust is made with five ingredients + a cup of water and is ready to become the pizza crust of your dreams in an hour!

I only need five ingredients?

Not kidding! This crust only requires five ingredients, and you’ll have them memorized in your sleep after the first time you make it!

one teaspoon instant yeast

one teaspoon white sugar

one teaspoon of sea salt

one Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, divided

one cup of water

Water is an additional ingredient, but I count it as a freebie!

I love using instant yeast because you don’t have the headache of adding it to warm water and proofing it to make sure it’s alive. Also, instant yeast can withstand being in contact with higher temperature water. Instant yeast can withstand water temperatures from 120° to 130°. If you would like to read more about properly proofing different types of yeast, Bob’s Red Mill has a great article on the subject. (Please Note: this post is not sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. They offer some great information about bread making on their site, and I am happy to share it.)

Okay, first whisk the instant yeast, sea salt, sugar, and 2 cups of the all-purpose flour in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle the olive oil over it and whisk well. Add the warm water, whisk again until the mixture is smooth and resembles a thick pancake batter. A few small lumps are okay. I always make a smooth batter when making pizza dough to ensure I don’t add an unnecessary amount of flour to the initial mixture. Too much flour= a tough and dry baked pizza crust.

{The second stage of chewy pizza crust mixing}

Next, whisk or stir more all-purpose flour in small increments into the dough until a shaggy ball forms. Dust your counter with a few generous pinches of the remaining flour, and you’re ready to knead!

The Rhythm of Kneading

The method of folding the dough, rolling and applying pressure with your hands to shape the dough into a firm ball is therapeutic. Have anxiety? Knead some dough and your anxiety vanishes!

With the ball of dough in front of you, grab the top edge and fold it down towards you to meet the bottom edge of the dough.

Roll the ball of dough away from you, using the fleshy part at the bottom of your palm.

Turn the dough a quarter of a turn and start the whole process again. Repeat for approximately 10 minutes. King Arthur Flour has a video you can watch if you would like to see the kneading process in action. It’s a great tutorial that’s only 43 seconds long! Check it out!

Just remember: Fold, Roll, Turn and Repeat

{press your finger lightly into the dough if the dough springs back it is properly kneaded}

When the dough begins to form a firm ball, press your finger lightly into the dough. If the dough springs back it is adequately kneaded and ready to rest until doubled in size.

{docking the unbaked pizza dough to prevent large air pockets from forming}

Line a cookie sheet or a pizza peel with foil and spritz it with cooking spray and push, gently pull and nudge the dough with your fingertips into what I like to call a “rustic” crust. My crust is never perfectly round, and I’m okay with that. Dock the dough by poking it with a fork multiple times. Docking prevents any large pockets of air from forming in the crust and leaving a giant bubble of air in the baked crust. Par-bake the crust in a 450° oven for 6-8 minutes.

{docked & par-baked crust}

Remove the partially baked crust from the oven. Par-baking the crust ensures the finished pizza will be fully cooked, never doughy, or soggy from the toppings. Top the pizza with our Quick & Easy Pizza Sauce, cheese and other desired toppings. Bake your topped pizza for an additional 8-10 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven and let it rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing.

{my favorite way to transfer shredded ingredients into a storage vessel}

A few pizza tips…

I use a box grater to grate cheese. I always place the box grater on a sheet of wax paper, grate the cheese, lift the grater away, and the wax paper becomes the funnel to transfer the cheese into a storage container!

If you would like to jazz up the outer crust: before par-baking, sprinkle “everything” seasoning, sesame seeds, or Maldon flake sea salt onto the outer edge of the shaped dough.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me, you can drop me a line @ yumsandkisses@gmail.com. It’s going to be hot this weekend! Drink lots of water and a little bit of Sangria! Next week I’ll be back to share a creamy homemade ice cream recipe that contains no eggs! If you don’t want to miss any recipes from Yums & Kisses be sure to sign up for our email list at the bottom of the page!

If You Love A Chewy Pizza Crust…

Description

If You Love A Chewy Pizza Crust! If you are serious about pizza and you L-O-V-E a chewy pizza crust this recipe is for you! Made with four ingredients and ready to bake in an hour!

Scale

Ingredients

1 tsp instant yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp sea salt

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 cups all-purpose flour + 1/2 cup for kneading

1 cup warm water (120°-130° temperature)

Instructions

Place yeast, sugar, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add 2 cups of the all-purpose flour to the bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients until well combined. Drizzle the olive oil over the dry ingredients and whisk again. Pour the water over the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Continue adding the remaining flour and stirring with a heavy spoon until the dough begins to form a shaggy ball.

Dust your counter with a few generous pinches of the reserved 1/2 cup of flour you saved for kneading. Dump your ball of dough onto the floured counter and knead while adding additional pinches of flour to the counter to prevent the dough from sticking to it. The dough will begin to form a smooth ball after approximately 10 minutes of hand kneading. Alternatively, if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook the dough may be mixed in that instead for about 10-12 minutes.

A good rule of thumb is if you gently poke the dough with your fingertip and the dough bounces back it is adequately kneaded!

Keep in mind that you may not use all of the flour reserved for kneading and on the flip side if the day is especially humid you may need more than the 1/2 cup. Add it slowly to avoid the final dough from being dry. The dough should stay a tad tacky but not so sticky that you cannot work with it.

Place kneaded dough ball into a large mixing bowl that has been spritzed with cooking spray. Spritz the top of the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place a kitchen towel over the plastic wrap to prevent any drafts from preventing the dough from rising. The towel helps create a cozy environment for the dough to rise! Set the dough aside for approximately one hour. If the day is especially warm the dough could be ready in less time! If using a pizza stone to bake the pizza on, preheat your oven to 450° after the dough has risen for 30 minutes.

When the dough has doubled in size it is ready to become pizza! If you aren’t sure the dough is ready poke the dough with your finger. If your finger leaves a dent in the dough it’s ready! Punch the dough (gently) with your fist to release the gas that has built up during the rise time. This step will help relieve any anxiety you may have after a hard day. And it also prevents the final crust from having any large pockets of air!

If not using a pizza stone to bake the pizza, preheat the oven to 450°. Line a cookie sheet with a large sheet of foil and spritz it with cooking spray. You can spritz your hands with the cooking spray before shaping the crust to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands. Place the punched down dough gently onto the cookie sheet and use you fingertips to push and nudge it into the desired thickness and shape. Keep in mind if you stretch the dough to the point that it’s very thin the final pizza will have a crunchy crust instead of a chewy one. Trust me, it’s equally delicious as the chewy crust!

If using a pizza peel to transfer the pizza to a pizza stone, line the peel with a large sheet of foil and spritz it with cooking spray. Transfer the dough to the peel and form into desired thickness and shape.

Dock the dough using the tines of a fork and slide the unbaked crust into the oven for 6-8 minutes.

Slide the topped pizza into the oven for 8-10 additional minutes. Remove from the oven when the crust is golden brown. Let the pizza rest for 5 minutes before slicing and enjoying!

Notes

Spritzing your hands with cooking spray really helps prevent the dough from sticking to your hands as you form the crust.

I recommend you don’t skip lining the cookie sheet with foil and spritzing it with cooking spray. I have tried baking pizza on a greased cookie sheet without the foil and the crust has always stuck to the pan.

If your kitchen is cool in temperature the dough may take a bit longer to rise. Yeast dough loves a warm environment to rise. You can always place a cup of water in the microwave til it boils and then place your covered dough in the microwave to rise.